Endangered Species Act

By any measure, the federal Endangered Species Act is a remarkable piece of legislation. Signed by President Richard Nixon in December 1973, it still ranks as the most powerful law in the world for protecting plants and animals and for retrieving them from the brink of extinction. In three decades, hundreds of plant and animal species have been given a fighting chance for survival. The California condor, once endangered, has multiplied and expanded its range and today soars above the Grand Canyon.

I greatly enjoyed Robert Thorson's column about the passenger pigeon, and the practical and moral implications that go along with recreating the species [April 18, Opinion, "Effort To Revive Extinct Pigeon Misspent"]. It seems to me that if the de-extinction of this species were to actually be successful, it would lead the government to loosen focus on providing protection for endangered species. Thorson brings up many valid points in his article, and one of the most important is the potential damage that reintroducing these species may cause.

The U.S. Endangered Species Act turned 20 Tuesday, its future as a force for wildlife conservation as tenuous as some of the creatures it is supposed to protect. During its two decades, the act has become a perennial prop in the debate about economics vs. conservation, and about whether the two are mutually exclusive. That debate will continue next year when the act comes up for congressional reauthorization. Under the law, the government established a process by which extremely rare species can be listed as endangered and thus protected from harm, which includes destruction of their habitat.

1970 National Environmental History ■ More than 20 million people participate in the first Earth Day, April 22. ■U. S. Environmental Protection Agency is created. ■ Congress passes the Clean Air Act. One provision is the phasing out of leaded gasoline. 1971 Connecticut DEP is established. ■ Initially formed to regulate general environmental concerns, its oversight now extends to air, water and land, as well as wildlife conservation and the state's parks and forests.

The Bush administration's hostility toward the federal Endangered Species Act is a matter of record. So it's in keeping with this White House that, just weeks from the start of the Obama administration, Mr. Bush would try to take one last swipe. Congress shouldn't let him. The Bush administration's latest assault is an end-run around the federal wildlife experts who usually review plans for public projects. Currently, agencies have to submit plans to scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marines Fisheries Service, who determine whether the projects jeopardize the 1,353 animals and plants listed as threatened or endangered.

Supported by extensive new information, biologists are adding 85 plants and animals to the four categories of Connecticut's 5-year-old Endangered Species Act. Despite the large number of additions, the biologists say it does not reflect a sudden decline in the health of the state's plants and animals. It is rather, they say, that ongoing research has helped them understand far more about the fortunes of various species. "We've come through five years, and we've learned a lot," said Kenneth J. Metzler, a biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection's natural resources center.

Now that the bald eagle has been taken off the list of endangered species, is it too much to hope this magnificent bird will stay that way? Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the official "delisting" last week during a ceremony in front of the Jefferson Memorial. "The eagle has returned," he said. "From this point forward we will work to ensure that the eagle never again needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act." The story of the bald eagle's recovery is undeniably inspiring.

A New York man who violated the Endangered Species Act by trafficking in snow leopard hides was spared prison Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Janet B. Arterton imposed a sentence of five years' probation on Noorullah Zadran, 43, of Queens, N.Y., who was arrested in July 1995 after a 15- month undercover investigation. Zadran had delivered the hides of the highly endangered snow leopard to undercover agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Customs Service at a rest area off I-95 in Darien.

Beachgoers and boaters heading to the shoreline this weekend should take care to avoid areas roped off to protect piping plover and least tern nests, state environmental officials said. Each year, the state Department of Environmental Protection's Wildlife Division ropes off or fences nesting sites of these endangered birds to prevent humans from wandering through. Piping plovers and least terns both use shallow depressions in the sand as a nest. Their sandy-colored eggs are not easily seen, and can be stepped on by the unwary.

Results of a recent inquiry by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only confirm what has been clear for some time now: that as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks in the Interior Department, Julie MacDonald abused her authority by trying to short-circuit the federal Endangered Species Act. Ms. MacDonald resigned this spring after a report by the agency's inspector general excoriated her mishandling of the Endangered Species Act....

Julie MacDonald's reign of malfeasance at the Interior Department ended 11/2 years ago. But her legacy of politically tainted decisions survived, and owes much to an agency culture that cries out for an overhaul - a culture she instilled. Ms. MacDonald was a senior Bush political appointee with no scientific training who served as deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service. She resigned in May 2007 after investigators found she tampered with scientific evidence, improperly removed species and habitats from the endangered species list, and forwarded internal documents to oil industry lobbyists and property rights groups.

The Bush administration's hostility toward the federal Endangered Species Act is a matter of record. So it's in keeping with this White House that, just weeks from the start of the Obama administration, Mr. Bush would try to take one last swipe. Congress shouldn't let him. The Bush administration's latest assault is an end-run around the federal wildlife experts who usually review plans for public projects. Currently, agencies have to submit plans to scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marines Fisheries Service, who determine whether the projects jeopardize the 1,353 animals and plants listed as threatened or endangered.

In its latest sneak attack on the federal Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration is proposing a regulatory overhaul that would give federal agencies authority to decide whether their own projects - plans for bridges, dams, highways, mines and other construction - pose a threat to endangered species. The new rules would also bar agencies from considering the impact of projects on global warming. For more than three decades, agencies have been required to consult with wildlife experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marines Fisheries Service to determine whether their projects pose a threat to the 1,353 animals and plants listed as threatened or endangered.

For years, the Bush administration has tried to detour around federal protections and open millions of acres of national forest to road construction and logging. Now it has quietly negotiated a deal to convert hundreds of thousands of acres of privately owned Montana forest to residential subdivisions by paving roads in national forests. It's hard to square this deal with the guiding principle espoused by the Forest Service's first chief, Simsbury native Gifford Pinchot: "To provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run."

Ever so grudgingly, the Bush administration officially acknowledged recently that global warming is impinging on the future of the polar bear. The administration agreed to list the animal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It's good news for the polar bear. It means that the federal government will have to assess the health of the bear's population and habitat as part of a recovery plan. It also means that federal agencies will have to consult with the Interior Department about activities that could imperil the bears - oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, for example.

After years of denials, dodges and delays, the Bush administration is finally facing its moment of truth about global warming: A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to conclude by mid-May whether the polar bear deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act. Prodded by a lawsuit brought by three environmental groups, the department had proposed listing the bear as threatened in December 2006. Since then, the department has missed two of its own deadlines for a final decision.

The Bush administration's record for protecting endangered species can be pretty well summarized as winking at extinction. In the seven years since Mr. Bush took office, The Washington Post reports, only 59 species have been officially designated as endangered. It's the worst record since the endangered species law was enacted in 1973. Mr. Bush's record is far worse than his immediate predecessors': His father, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton averaged 58 and 62 new listings a year, respectively.

The state plans to purchase about 200 acres on the west end of town for $3.1 million to preserve as a habitat for endangered wildlife, state Department of Environmental Protection officials confirmed Monday. The Conservation Fund, a Virginia-based nonprofit that preserves wildlife habitats, bought the land on the east side of Babbs Road from the General Cigar Co. Inc. for $3.1 million last month. The group plans to sell the land, located across from Babbs Beach, for the same purchase price to the DEP within the next few months, a spokeswoman for The Conservation Fund said.